UW-Madison spinoff awarded $10 million for critical medical isotope

SHINE CEO Greg Piefer with a working prototype of the neutron generator he invented, which will be used to make moly-99 at the planned Janesville plant. Photo courtesy of SHINE Medical Technologies.

SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc. of Janesville, Wisconsin, has been awarded $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance production of an isotope used to diagnose heart disease and cancer.

SHINE’s technology eliminates the use of highly-enriched uranium in making molybdenum-99, an isotope that decays into another isotope that is used in more than 40 million medical imaging procedures annually.

The funding will advance the design and construction of SHINE’s radioisotope production facility in Janesville.

“We are grateful to the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration for its financial and technical support through the construction permit approval process,” said Greg Piefer, SHINE CEO.